Russian tennis beauty Maria Sharapova has revealed how her sporting career has helped build a foundation for her foray into business.

The former World No. 1 joined sports columnist Jason Gay for the inaugural Wall Street Journal Future of Everything Festival webinar series, where she spoke about her candy company Sugarpova and other aspirations of working in architecture and in wellness facilities at hotels, resorts and spas.

"From my perspective...it's been really nice to have this moment of reflection to look back at the 28 years of playing this one little sport, and what it meant to me, and recollecting, and also having the chance to form the foundation of the future.

"The relationship-building is one of the most incredible assets that I've gained along this journey. I've really gotten an MBA on the job...I love it. I think there are a lot of elements of my sport that I take into the world of business, and I'm still learning every single day," said Maria.

She is glad that the lockdown has taken place post-retirement. "In hindsight, [my retirement] was great timing, because I'd be sitting here saying, 'When do I train?', 'What do I train for?' " she added.

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